Having a severe dairy allergy for the past 12 years I am always very careful when selecting places to eat.
I had tickets for a concert in Camden Friday 14th September 2018 so found Alexander the Great to book for my Mum's Birthday meal, when I called to reserve a table I was assured the restaurant caters for allergies and a note was made on my booking that I have a severe allergy to dairy.
When we arrived I told our waiter about my allergy, I am always very clear and have the same speech wherever I go:
"I am allergic to dairy, I can't have milk, cream, cheese or butter on anything" when I told him this I told him what I wanted, he went to check with the chef. I ordered Taramasalata to start and then Lamb Kabab with Rice as a main, a pretty safe choice.
Starters came, were great so I was at ease, along came the mains and we all dove in. Halfway through my main I noticed the bowl my rice was served in had a greasy film along the inside, I asked the waiter if the rice had butter in it, he went away, came back and said "yes, a little"
So at this point everyone in my party dropped their faces and cutlery in shock, the waiter then went onto say "it's only a teaspoon, you'll be fine"
The last thing I need is a waiter that doesn't listen and then has the nerve to tell me I'll be fine! So of course I am not fine, within 5 minutes I'm running back and forth to the toilet vomiting and with a VERY upset stomach (sorry for the details but this is what happens).
The restaurant is filling up and they only have one tiny toilet, the waiter constantly loiters around our table, standing over people and looking at me like a ticking time bomb and telling me I look fine, I'll be Ok! He offered me everything from water to limoncello, I told him the one thing I needed was NO DAIRY!
No one in my party enjoyed the meal after that as they can see that I am becoming increasingly ill.
The rest of the restaurant has noticed too as I am going to the toilet every 2-3 minutes and in there for quite a while, and to add insult to injury I can hear the staff talking about me in Greek, which I do understand BTW!
The waiter came to the table whilst I was otherwise engaged and tried to turn the situation on me by saying I only asked about the main dish and not the accompaniments! UH NO! Your job as a waiter is to check everything for me! I stated CLEARLY I am allergic, just because it's an accompaniment I will still be allergic to it, your staff in the kitchen did not care, bottom line!
When I paid to leave (1.5 hours later) I was still unwell but had been humiliated enough and had to go, I was too sick to go to the concert so I wasted £100 tickets and guess what THEY CHARGED ME FOR MY MEAL!!!!! The meal I had about 5 bites from and that POISENED me! They did give me a free small bottle of water and hot water with mint leaves in it.....Thanks.
I should have argued but I was in pain, I had been sick about 15 times and I had concerns about my 50 minute journey home when I'm going to the toilet every 5 minutes...That was not fun.
I am still sick and had to call in sick for work today and was in bed all weekend, the meal was Friday, It's now Monday.
Basically, don't go here if you have any allergies because the staff don't check and the chef clearly doesn't care! He was told my dish was the kebab and gave me rice he knew would make me ill.
Disgusting customer service and I will not be returning, I am posting this review everywhere and making this establishment known to the food agency. read more
